Kara (Untitled)
by newtothis95
Summary: Out of nowhere, it seems, comes a woman with incredible strength Earth has never seen before. Along with the Avengers, she saves New York city from an alien attack. Will the Avengers except her as one of their own? Or will her mysterious past inhibit her acceptance to the group. This story grapples with the ideas of fear, friendship and betrayal Cover art: Instagram @maksymwolczyk
1. Chapter 1

Untitled

Chapter one

 _I was so young when they came, but I still remember it. I went out into this field outside my village every day and ran and played while my parents were at work. I was in that field when they came to G'mai. I just remember the sky lighting up to shades and colors I had never seen it turn before. Purples and pinks, blues and black. I remember being transfixed by it. It was close to where I was, so I went towards it. I remember this huge, imposing space ship, coming out of the colors in the sky. It came and landed, and it whipped the wind and I remember feeling like it would push me over. These men came out of the ship, men of all kinds and colors. I had never met a people other than the G'mai. Some of them looked like me and my people- some of them looked like monsters and gods from our legends. But even so, I wasn't scared. The men talked among themselves, until they fell silent. I realized they saw me. A man came over to me. He was huge, larger than any man or beast I had ever seen. He knelt in front of me, and he held out his hand to me, and I took it. A beautiful and new adventure waited for me. I knew I just had to reach out and grab it._

 _When we boarded his ship, I was in awe. I looked and studied everything. I was so curious. I was brought into a room full of food, the most delicious and abundant food I had ever seen, and I remember the feeling of being full for the first time. I wasn't scared even for a moment. I wasn't even scared when all the men loaded onto the ship and we began lifting higher and higher into the sky. We went above the clouds and into the stars, and I stood in awe of it all. I only started to feel fear when I looked out the window towards my planet getting smaller and smaller and seeing my planet become a flash, a blinding light of an explosion. And it was gone._

Kara sat in a seminar for her graduate biochemistry course. A guest lecturer droned on about a topic she had already studied on her own. She knew the material from hours of pre-lecture reading last night. Her pencil dropped from her hand to her desk. Realizing that she wouldn't be taking notes this afternoon, she let her eyes drift through the room, from one face to the other. Her eyes trailed to the window and stopped. She caught her breath. Through her view from the window, she could see the majority of New York city sprawled out in the distance, and there in the sky, a portal opening. It started small, familiar colors of pinks, blues, and black, pushing the sky and clouds out of its way to reveal the expanse of space close enough for the birds to touch. Then came the sounds: the booms and screeches of technology and life forms Earth had yet to know. The boom aroused the other graduate students and they started to gather at the window. Smaller spaceships started zooming out of the portal and weaving into the streets and around the high-rises below. Then, an enormous machine was birthed through the portal above, groaning with every twist and turn. The machine was larger than a building and the sight of it sent the students screaming from the room. Kara stood up from her seat. _Fuck…_ she thought, _aliens._

Running out of the building and down the hill and through the tall trees, Kara knew she had to get downtown. She ran and each of her footsteps pounded and shook the ground. She didn't care if she revealed her identity and abilities to the humans, all she cared about was the people down on the streets, being killed or injured without even a hope. She had seen these machines before, and she had seen what they had done in battle to those standing in their way. Her paces quickened to 100 mph, then 120. Within minutes she reached the city and rushed to the heart of it. Sirens sounded as police cars speed and tanks rolled in through the city streets, all guns aimed and firing on the metal beast. Kara knew these human guns wouldn't even make a scratch. The metal on these ships were stronger than the metal on earth. As she charged toward it, a man in a red metal suit flew over her head. CRASH! into the monster, leaving a dent but barely slowing it down. He flew back and started shooting missiles at it that came from his shoulders and his hands. These had no effect, and the beast continued to crash through the city, tearing out chunks of buildings as it snaked through. Kara knew she had to stop it. She quickly looked around her for sure footing, then, with the power of hundred men, she ran towards the beast and leapt into the air bringing her fists down onto the nose of the ship, crushing the metal beneath it and bringing it down: SLAM against the earth. With the head of it driven into the street, the tail followed, being compacted and crushed into itself. Kara, having ridden the thing down to the ground with her fists still against it, she dug her heels into asphalt to try to slow it down. She could feel the paved road being dug up beneath her and the beast as it slowed and stopped, the rest of it landing on the earth with a labored THUD and CRASH. Kara stepped back and examined it. It was unmoving, and she determined that it was disabled. "What the fuck?" A voice behind Kara made her whip her head around. A woman with striking red hair and a black body suit stood there with eye wide, she had seen the whole feat. The metal armored man landed beside her. Coolly he looked at Kara and asked, "Who are you?" Kara didn't have time to answer, and they couldn't wait for one. Goblin-like aliens riding car sized space crafts zoomed around them. With a quick nod of his head, the man was off, flying over them and pulling goblins off their rides one at a time. The woman waited until a craft was heading toward her and she jumped on top of a car and off it onto the craft, throwing the alien off and piloting it herself. More space crafts zoomed towards Kara, and with one jump she reached up and grabbed the nose of the craft and sent in straight into the ground. She continued to catch and throw down the aliens and their carriers. She ran through the streets, taking out every hostile she came across. She saw another spaceship, larger than the ones the aliens rode on, in front of her. She started for it when a green flash came out roaring in front of her. He jumped 30 feet into the air, slamming his whole body against spaceship, sending into an explosion and crash landing. Unfazed and unhurt, the green giant continued to run and jump, smashing everything in his path.

The red man flew in front of Kara, "There's another one."

Kara looked up towards the portal, "Yeah, I see it. Its too high for me to get to."

"Then I guess I'll have to bring it closer." With that he was off and towards the sky. He shot at the second oversized beast of a spaceship, damaging it little, but enough to get it to want to take him out. It followed him down out of the sky. Kara knew it wouldn't get close enough to the ground for her to get to. She ran to a building close to her and tug her fingers into the metal of the building and started climbing up. She scaled the high rise to the top and just as the beast pasted by below, she leapt on to the top of it, and with one punch to its center, it broke apart, midair. The metal beast crashed into the earth taking Kara with it. When the aliens all saw their last mother ship taken down, they retreated back through the portal. In the middle of the wreckage, with the dust starting to clear and with the eyes of the city on her, Kara emerged.


	2. Chapter 2

_He told me he saved me. He held me and comforted me as I looked at my planet, my home, everything I loved- be destroyed. "I saved you from that" he told me. And I had no reason not to believe him_.

Kara sat on a white leather sofa and looked around the room idly. An impressive home bar sat to the right of her, and to her left was floor to ceiling windows, revealing a much-coveted view of New York city. She was in the Stark Industries tower, and the view from it should have been the most interesting thing to look at. However, in front of Kara sat a god, dressed in golden armor and a crimson cape. "What did you say your name was again?" Kara asked in an awkward attempt to make conversation. A deep voice came from the bearded god, "My name is Thor Odinson, God of Thunder."

Kara nodded, and returned her view out the window. She knew they were talking about her in whispers from the other room. She could sense it, and every so often, one of them would raise their voice and she could hear her name being spoken.

After the battle, the red suited man had introduced himself to her. He was Tony Stark, a billionaire here in New York, as well as a mechanical genius, designing and building the suit that allowed him to fly and shoot missiles. He used to design weapons, but this time he turned himself into the weapon. But of course, Kara knew who he was. He was something of a legend not only in New York, but all over the country. Word of him and his band of superhuman colleagues had even spread to other planets. Stark had invited Kara back to the tower to get to know her, although Kara quickly realized it was more so to determine how much of a threat she and her powers might be.

"Your strength is exceptional, I have never seen nor beheld such strength before," Thor's deep voice interrupting Kara's thoughts, "Except, of course, from myself as I wield Mjölnir." Kara cocked her head to the side in confusion. Thor held up the hammer in his hand as reply. They had been sitting in silence over 15 minutes. Kara was grateful for a bit of conversation. "So, are you one of them? The 'Avengers'?" Kara asked, again already knowing the answer.

"Yes. As prince of Asgard, I am deemed to be protector of the nine realms. Earth is one of them, thus it is my duty to protect it."

"Then how come you aren't in the meeting room with the rest of them? Do you have orders to babysit me?"

"The God of Thunder does not take orders!" Thor boomed in pride, then softened, "It's just that I do not feel the need to discuss all matters to no end. I leave that to the humans. Earth is not my home, so I leave the decisions for earth to them."

"Earth isn't my home either." Kara replied, returning he gaze out the window. Thor looked intently at her, "Then, where do you come from?"

Interrupting them before she could answer, Stark entered the room, beside him the one they called Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and a man Kara couldn't place. The captain walked straight up to her with an outstretched hand and Kara stood to greet him. Shaking her hand, the captain said, "I've just been briefed on what went down out there, I'm just sorry I didn't get a chance to see it for myself. I was fighting my own batch of aliens when I saw those giant ships go down. I wondered who in the heck could have brought down beasts like those, and imagine my surprise when- anyway, it's good to meet you. I'm Steve."

"I'm Kara. Its good to meet you too. I've learned all about you in school. My history professor loves you. I can't believe I am actually meeting you."

"So, wait, you have heard about this guy who fought in one war, but not a literal god of myth and legend, who has defeated countless foes across the realms?" Thor stood in disbelief.

The other man Kara didn't recognize introduced himself, as the group collectively ignored Thor's question. "Hi, I'm Bruce. We didn't get a chance to meet before."

Kara shook his hand, "Yeah, I don't think I saw you during the fight down there."

Bruce smiled a little embarrassed and glanced at the floor before replying, "Yeah, you might have met the other guy—" "Big, green, smashing," Tony cut in, "Kara, I think we need to talk. We need to know who you are and what the hell was going on down there."

"I have seen some unbelievable things in my life…" Black Widow, the woman who had joined in the fight against the aliens, added walking towards the semicircle of curious heroes forming around Kara, "but what you did takes the cake."

Stark continued, "How is it possible for a human to have that kind of strength and indestructability? I mean, I saw a couple thousand-ton piece of machinery crash on to you, and you stood up without a scratch." The group of Avengers stood around Kara, waiting for her response. Before she could answer, Thor's voice came from the other side of the room "It is because she is not human."

 **This is my first time posting anything I have written. I am just a casual fan of the MCU, and I want to incorporate some of the characters into my story. However, it will mostly be focused on Kara, my own character. I have the rest of the story planned out, I just hope Ill be able to finish writing it. I hope through trying to tell this story that I develop and strengthen my writing style. Enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3

_He raised me. He called me daughter and I called him father. I was his first child, and his expectations were always the highest with me. He trained me and taught me everything I know. He taught me how to punch, kick, and defend myself. He also trained me in how to take down my enemy… he taught me how to kill. We would train everyday together. He raised me to be a warrior- a soldier and taught me obedience and how to follow his commands. As I grew older, I learned what would happen and the consequences if I disobeyed…_

For the first hour, the questions came in rapid fire:

"Where were you born?"

"How did you get your powers?"

"When did you come to Earth?"

"Why did you help us?"

"I was born on a planet called G'mai… Everyone of my people have strength like I do, it's just how we are… I came to Earth with my parents long ago. Our planet was destroyed, and we wandered the galaxy until we found solace on earth… I helped because I could, because it was the right thing to do." Kara answered all the questions the avengers had. The questioning continued throughout the next few days, although sporadically and sprinkled through long breaks of eating and sleeping. After the initial questions, Tony felt his curiosity about Kara mostly satisfied, if not his trust in her. He suggested dinner, and the group heartily concurred. Before they left for the dining room, Kara added sincerely, sensing some of the group still had questions they didn't have answers to yet, "I've heard stories about you, about all of you. How you have helped the world when they needed you most. I want to do that, I want to help people. You know, give back to the world that has given me so much. I never thought I would actually get to meet you guys. But now that I have… if I can be of use to you again… I would really like to."

When their meal had finished, Tony offered for her to stay in the tower with the rest of the group over the next few days so they could get to know each other more. There was a lot to do for the avengers, post battle, including strategy meetings with S.H.I.E.L.D. to figure out what caused this alien attack and what they can do next time to prevent this. In this area, Kara was able to offer some help. She recounted seeing these machines once before and described the devastation they had caused then. She told them the planet the aliens came from. Most of the meetings, however, were classified, leaving Kara free to roam the floors of the Stark tower. Pepper even gave Kara a tour of the more interesting (and open to the public eye) parts of Stark Industries. Other than wandering around, Kara filled up her days getting caught up on the lectures and readings she had been missing these last three days. On the fourth day, the meetings started wrapping up and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were gone for good. The day before they left, they had also questioned-more of interrogated- Kara. She figured they were a little pissed about not being aware of a highly skilled and dangerous alien on Earth for the past few years.

Kara sat alone in the kitchen off of the living areas for a few of those staying in the tower.

"Good morning." Natasha said, causing Kara's head to spring up from her bowl of cereal, catching her breath. Kara made a mental note that Natasha walks super quietly. "Oh! Hi. Good morning! I didn't hear you walk in." Kara smiled, embarrassed having been caught off guard.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Nat gave a sweet smile and reached for a banana from the fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.

"Oh, that's ok," Kara waved off the apology as chewed another bit of cereal, "I heard you used to be a spy… I'm sure you're used to sneaking up on people." Nat threw her head back and laughed. "Yeah, you could say that," She answered.

"What's so funny?" just then Steve walked in the kitchen having just came back from a run. He got a bottle of water out of the fridge, still a little out of breath.

"I scared Kara," Nat said still grinning.

The captain let out a little snort, "Yeah, get used to that. It's a pretty common occurrence around here."

Kara smiled back at the captain, then, looking around, realized Natasha had left as stealthily as she had come. Steve set a pan on the stove and took out nearly a dozen eggs.

"So," Kara started between another bite, "You six all live here, like all the time?"

"HA!" Steve turned his head to reply from where he was cracking his breakfast, "No, can you imagine? No, I think that would get old real fast."

"Really?" Kara continued, "Cause I feel like it could be fun. Living together with your work buddies. They don't seem so bad."

"Yeah, no, we get along alright. But it's better to just keep our interactions work related a brief. Tony especially can get to be a bit much."

"You and Tony don't get along?"

"We just have very different ideas and ways of doing things. He likes living in his tower, I prefer my apartment in Brooklyn."

Kara nodded, Steve returned to his eggs. She took her bowl to the sink, and before leaving the kitchen she added, "I think… if I was a part of a group like this, if I had friends like you, I don't think I'd ever want to leave."

Steve looked down, dishing his eggs before going to sit at the table. He thought back to the day he met Kara…

"Who did you say took down those ships?" Steve asked in disbelief, mouth agape. He stood around an oval table in one of Stark's meeting rooms. His uniform was torn and frayed in a few places, and his muscles ached. He gave everything he had out there- left it all on the battle field. He was proud of his team that day. He remembered seeing and hearing the big ships go down and figuring it was Hulk or Stark, or maybe a combined effort from them, that defeated the giants.

"A girl," Tony replied, "A baby: early twenties."

"That's impossible." The cap replied, still in disbelief, "Who is she?"

"She said her name is S'kara. Goes by Kara." Tony used the tablet in his hands to pull up a digital profile and dragged it with two fingers to appear on a large screen in the room.

"She has been enrolled in the university for the past three years," Bruce continued, "She finished her undergrad in two years, and is almost done her masters. Biochem."

Steve looked up at her profile. It was short, containing very little information and a single photo from university ID. "This is pretty much all we have on her… JARVIS is running a few facial recognition programs to see if she pops up under other aliases." Tony added.

"That's her?" Steve said, pointing to the picture, "Wow… she is beautiful. Did she look like that during the whole fight?" A confused silence kind of fell on the group as they pondered the captains question. Natasha subtly rolled her eyes. "I mean," he continued, "she didn't like… hulk out?"

"No," Bruce answered, slight irritation in his voice, "She hasn't been experimenting with gamma rays as far as we are aware."

"Why are we just standing around talking about her? We need to go look for her, find her, and ask her these questions ourselves."

"Steve, she is here. She is right outside." Tony said, motioning to the living room.

"She's here?" Steve exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Tony said, "Thor and JARVIS are keeping an eye on her. If she moves, we'll know about it."

"I don't know if it's a good idea that she is here," Natasha started, worrying her brow, "she dangerous, she could be capable of a lot more than we realize."

Bruce smiled up at Nat, "I'm dangerous too, yet you seem to keep me around."

Nat rolled her eyes again, not so subtly this time.

"Yeah, sure, she is highly capable, but she is one of the good guys. She was on our side of the fight, right? So I'm not sure why we are so suspicious of her." Steve said, looking around the room for agreement.

"It's more complicated than that. There is a lot more than just the good guys and bad guys, there's also a whole lot of bastards in between. I think our goal is to find out her motives: why she helped us and what her next move is."

Steve glared at Tony. He hated being talked down to, and Tony seemed to do it the best of anyone he'd met so far, "Well, you guys keep talking about unknown, I'm going to actually go meet her and see if I can get some answers."


	4. Chapter 4

_He and I were nearly a match for each other in strength, he over powering me slightly each time. That was until I reached adolescence. Then I started becoming stronger and stronger than him, and he couldn't control me anymore. He realized he needed a back up plan. That's when he brought on the Createan Man. The Createan man had powers that… that I have never seen in all the universe. He is able to manipulate a person's mind and body, stripping them of every one of their senses. When he takes over you with his mind, you cannot see, feel, hear anything. You are in udder and complete darkness. You can't even feel yourself breathe. You can't feel the passage of time. You are just alone. It is the truest and deepest hell. That's what he did to me, when I didn't obey him._

Kara could feel eyes on her wherever she went. They watched her as she had eaten her breakfast in the kitchen; they watched her when she walked through the hallway; they watched her when she went into her room. She wondered if the eyes also were in her room. The cameras she had spotted through the tower were obvious and didn't concern her; it was the smaller ones, the ones she couldn't see with her naked eye that worried her. She understood their concerns. She was unknown to them, a foreigner, possibly even a threat. They weren't cold to her throughout the early parts of the week, but they were pleasant and distant. Kara was used to distance. She had put distance between her and all her past relationships. She put distance between each of her classmate in university. If you don't get close, you can't get hurt, right? It's for this reason that when Bruce had knocked on her bedroom door and invited her to see his lab, and they ended up spending the afternoon together, Kara began to realize how much she craved closeness.

"Wow, this microscope is amazing!" Kara exclaimed, "I have never seen one so high tech before. The ones we use at school are cheap and super out of date."

"Yeah, everything in here is top of the line. Some of the machinery isn't even available to the public yet." Bruce seemed pleased to finally have someone other than himself excited about his lab equipment. "Tony has the hookup and was able to get me all this stuff."

"So, Tony just gave you a lab?" Kara adjusted the lenses to get a clearer picture of the slide.

"Yeah, I was originally brought on to the team for my scientific knowledge," Bruce looked down and rubbed the back of his neck, "But I proved to be helpful in some, ah, more physical areas too."

"I think you're amazing," Kara said with a big grin, walking over to inspect all the other toys, "Do you remember guest lecturing at NYU three years ago?"

"Yeah," Bruce perked up again, "were you one of the five people who wanted to hear my theories on cellular malfunctions in gamma ray exposed subjects?"

Kara grinned ear to ear as she nodded, "Yeah, its what spurred me into studying biochemistry. I actually left the lecture that day and changed my major to biochem."

"And you're in grad school now, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"How were you able to complete an undergrad in just two years?" Bruce's tone changed slightly as he asked. Kara could tell right away he was skeptical and maybe a little suspicious.

"Oh, I suppose you've done some homework on me?" Kara raised her eyebrows.

Bruce shook his head, and nervous laughed, "No, no, it was Tony. He background checks everyone. He knew things about my past when I fist met him that I didn't even know."

"It's ok. I know you all are a bit weary of me. I understand that. I don't blame you for being curious." A moment of silence past between them. Bruce regretted saying anything to make her feel uncomfortable, but he needed to know. "So, two years?"

"I don't sleep a lot. Or have a social life. That helps." Kara looked at Bruce and smiled.

He laughed and nodded, and then changed the subject, "I actually brought you in here for more than just a chat. I wanted your help with something." He pointed to a microscope already loaded with a slide.

"Really?" Kara came to where he was standing, "What could a genius like you need help with from a grad student?"

"They may call me a genius," Bruce replied, "but I've never been off this planet. And this microorganism..." he pointed to the slide, "I'm pretty sure, is not from here. I was wondering if you knew what it was."

Kara looked at the slide. She looked up at Bruce and shook her head, "No, I haven't ever seen something like this. I never really got an education before I came to earth, so I don't know much about other planetary microorganisms."

"That's ok. It was worth a shot. This little guy has been bugging me for a while now, I can't figure out where he came from, but I think I've ruled out anywhere on earth."

"Where did you find him?" Kara asked, looking in the microscope again.

"They actually found him in the water supply off the Hudson. They sent it to me to study, see if it was harmful or not."

"That's so weird." Kara furrowed her brow, "So is it? Dangerous?"

"No, not that I can tell. It just won't die. No matter the stimuli I give it or chemicals, it seems completely indestructible to everything. That's what kind of worries me. Not that it can do damage, but that maybe we won't be able to stop it if it does."

Kara looked at the ground. She knew that Bruce was talking about the organism. She knew that he was worried about it accessing the city's water supply. But she couldn't help but draw the parallels between this organism and her. Both not from here. Both the subject of fear from the humans. Both having them furiously brainstorm how to stop them if the time comes. In that moment, Kara's heart sank a little bit. She realized, even if she didn't do anything wrong, the humans may never fully trust her, simply out of fear of what she _could_ do.

"Thank you so much for showing me around your lab. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help." Kara smiled weakly at the doctor.

"Yeah, no, of course. Anytime." Bruce could feel the mood in the room change, but he didn't know why, "I'm just glad to have someone here interested in this stuff. I'll see you at dinner, right?"

Kara gave a polite smile and nodded as she walked out of the lab.

Why was this so hard?


	5. Chapter 5

**I just wanted to thank those of you reading and following this story. It means a lot. I would love if you guys posted some reviews, I'd like to hear what you think. This is my first-time kind of getting into fanfiction and writing in general. Thanks!**

 _The first time it happened I thought I was dead, I thought he had killed me. When I was little on G'mai, my mother taught me about religion, about light and dark, paradise and hell. She said the light-all that was good and perfect- came from the sun. Our energy, our life, and our love all came from the big star. All that was dark-that was bad and scary- came from our moons. "See," she would point out, after the sun went down for the two hours it did a day, "the moons bring darkness to our world. But don't worry my little one, for the moons may outnumber the sun, but they are smaller, and no matter how hard they try, the sun will always rise again." So, when my world went black, when I couldn't hear anything, when I tried to scream and run but I couldn't feel my body or my lungs pushing out air, I thought I had died and gone to hell. I don't even remember why I was being punished; I may have refused to eat my vegetables at dinner- I may have refused to execute a man on trial. When I was brought out of it, I had scratches all over my face, and there were dents in the floor. They told me I had been out for five minutes, and in that time, I had tried to scream and run, but because I couldn't feel my body I just moaned and hurt myself and hit the floor. It was the first and only time I have felt pain, the only time I have ever bled. I am indestructible, it turns out, to everything but my own hands. The next time I was punished, I forced myself to try to lie still and wait for it to be over._

Kara took a last look in the mirror before leaving her room and going downstairs for dinner. Tony had some of the best chefs cooking for them, and each night she ate as though it was her last meal. Every night, it seemed, the food got better and better. She couldn't keep up with Steve or Thor, though. They put food down like they hadn't eaten in twenty years. She had a running joke going with them that they were holding a secret competition to see who could eat more. Clint talked about his kids and passed around pictures and Kara said they were adorable. Pepper ask Natasha if she ever went out with the guy she set her up with. Nat waved off the question with an excuse of being too busy. The conversation went on through dinner. Kara noticed toward the end, Thor excused himself. After dinner, Kara offered to help clean up, but Tony and Pepper wouldn't let her, so she said her goodnights.

Kara wasn't tired, and she didn't feel like spending another night locked up in her room. She took the elevator to the top of the tower and stepped out on to the roof. To her surprise Thor was there, sitting on the railing with his legs hanging off the edge.

"Be careful," Kara yelled out to him with a laugh, "you don't want to fall off."

Thor's head spun around, "Oh, you startled me. Please, join me." He motioned next to him.

Kara walked over and hopped up onto the study railing and sat, letting her legs dangle over as well, taking in the forty-story drop. Thor seemed like he had been lost in his thoughts before Kara came up. Even now, he looked up into the night sky, deep in thought.

"I love looking up at the stars," Kara started, looking at Thor, "I spent a good chunk of my childhood living amongst them. So many planets didn't want us there. Before we were able to settle here, we spent a lot of time in our ship, going from planet to planet. Most of the time, living among the stars seemed like the safest place."

"I too feel comfortable gazing into the stars," Thor looked into Kara's eyes with intensity, "Back on my home, you can look into the night sky and see to each of the nine realms."

"It sounds like a nice view."

"Spectacular."

Thor returned his gaze to the sky and they sat there in silence. After a while, he asked, "why did you and your family come to earth?"

Kara shrugged, "I think just because we knew we would blend in. It's been difficult to try to pass as human, but I've been able to watch them and try to act like them, be one of them. All I've really wanted was to be accepted by them."

"Did you helping us in the battle reveal yourself to those of earth?" Thor asked.

"I'm not really sure actually. We will see when I go back to school tomorrow. If they scream and run away, I'll know my cover's been blown." Kara laughed, but knew the threat of having been revealed was real. She was thankful that the media wasn't on scene covering the battle, out of the sheer destruction and danger that was there. That didn't mean that there weren't civilians there who could recognize her or even have gotten pictures on their phones. She added, "I think I scare them."

Thor looked at her, "Who? The humans?"

"I mean, Tony and Bruce and all of them. I think they are afraid of me." Kara looked down at her feet swinging.

Thor put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him, "Well, I am not afraid of you." He smiled, then continued, "The people of earth have always feared that which they do not know and that which they cannot control. You and I, we are both of these things."

"Then maybe we should stick together." Kara added, smiling.

Thor nodded deeply, "Yes, yes we should. Do not worry," he added with a grin and a wink, "I have your back, Kara."

They sat in silence one more. Kara smiled at Thor's words. She hadn't thought much of him when they had first met. She had thought him arrogant and a bit vapid. However, on this night, she felt different. She saw him as sweet and sincere, and perhaps trusting to a fault. She could feel the distance she had always put between herself and others closing, ever so slightly, that night. She wondered, if this man-this god- could he be her first friend. She also thought about what he said, that he wasn't afraid of her. She hoped he would be the person to help her truly become an avenger; perhaps Thor could be the one to help the others trust her and see her as one of their own.

"So," Thor started again, pulling Kara out of her thoughts, "you will be going back to university tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Kara cleared her throat, "yeah I'll be leaving in the morning. Tony said there wasn't much else to do. And I have skipped quite a few lectures."

"I am leaving tomorrow as well. Back to Asgard."

"You aren't staying on earth?" Kara asked, surprised, "what if it needs saving again?"

"The world will always need someone to save it." Thor responded, "that's why I feel good about leaving it to you."

"I'm not a god, what will I be able to do?" Kara shook her head, her brows furrowed.

"You are more amazing than you realize, Kara. And when it comes time, you will be able to do great things. I know it."

The next morning, as she said her goodbyes to the avengers, Kara felt heavy. She had enjoyed the feeling of being part of a team, even just for a few days. It was nice to be around people who wanted to get to know her. She had been alone for so many years in New York, and she was reluctant to go back to normal life- back to being alone.

"Do you think I can come back sometime? Help save the world with you guys again or something?" she asked the group before she left.

"If there is ever another alien invasion, you will be the first person I call." Tony said with a smirk.

"Or anything, seriously Tony, anything you need help with. Just call." Kara smiled sincerely.

"Alright kid, you got it." He added as she walked out the door, "I'm sure we'll be in touch."

Kara knew eyes would be on her, even outside of Stark Tower. Whether it was a hacked traffic camera or a Hawkeye atop a skyscraper, she knew that Tony would be watching. More than that, she knew S.H.I.E.L.D. would be watching. As suspicious of her as Tony was, S.H.I.E.L.D. was ten times more so. Kara left Stark Tower and knew what she had to do.

Three nights passed since leaving the avengers. Kara left her apartment, took a bus, a subway, then a taxi outside the city. She ran miles to the shore of the Hudson river she had not been to in three years. It was the middle of the night before she reached it, and, sure she wasn't followed or watched, she dove into the river. Down, down she swam until she reached the bottom of the river. It took mere moments to clear away the mud and sentiment that had buried her spaceship in the three years since it had been placed there. She lifted the hatch that let her into the loading bay. She pressed a button, after closing and locking the hatch, that drained all the water from the room. The next door then slid open, revealing the room-sized interior of her space craft. She left no moment to soak in the familiar setting or reminisce about the times spent flying it. She went straight to communications desk and sat down, pressing a button that made the ship whirl to life. All the controls lit up and she tested the comms to make sure they still functioned. She pressed a few more buttons, then leaned into the sound receiver: "S'kara reporting to Titan, day of mission: 1339. Father, I have made contact with the avengers. I have assisted them and spent time among them. Many of them have yet to trust or accept me. I have made one contact, Thor the God of Thunder, who trusts me completely. I will update as my mission progresses. I repeat, tell Thanos: after all these years, I have finally made contact with the avengers."


	6. Chapter 6

_I wasn't the only child of Thanos, although I was his first. He brought in more that I called my brothers and sisters. I remember a young boy brought to us by Thanos' men when I was I young teenager. His name is Ben. I can remember Thanos believing the boy had great power, but when I was a child I couldn't see it. To me he was just weak and thin. I remember my father making us spar, and I realized quickly that I would easily break or crush him if I wasn't careful._

 _When Ben first moved in with us, he would just cry and cry for the first weeks. He was terrified a lot of the time and asked constantly for his mother. I had already lived with Thanos for a long time, I was annoyed at this boy and begged father to take him back wherever he came from. But my father got down on his knee and hunched over so he could look me in the eye. He took my face in his hands and he said, "Little one, don't you remember when you first came into this family? Don't you remember the long days and nights where your cried for your mother, already long gone? Don't you remember who held you late into the night, so you wouldn't sob? Little one, it was just as hard when you first came here, but look at you now. Look at how strong and fierce you have become in these years. Who will comfort Ben? Who will hold him when he cries? And who will teach him to be strong? You are his big sister now, it is your job to take care of him." So, I did. I cared for him, I raised him, I trained him. When he was still a little boy, he would come into my room at night and he would sleep while I sat watch. He feared the monsters that lurked in our house. He is the first, and maybe the only, thing I have ever truly loved._

Kara's fingers pitter-pattered on the keys of her laptop as she typed out concluding thoughts to her thesis. The past four months were the most challenging Kara had experienced in university, and she was glad to be nearly finished. Although she was working on her paper, her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She thought back to the day she had contacted Thanos. She wondered if she had been seen or found out and wondered if that is why she hadn't been contacted by the avengers in the past four months. She tried to shake that thought out of her head and focus on her typing… but again her mind drifted. She thought back to nearly four years ago when her father, Thanos of Titan, had given her this mission: to infiltrate the avengers, become one of them, and report back all information. Her father had told her this band of "super" humans on earth had been causing him trouble for a while. Individually, they wouldn't have bothered him, but as a team, they were difficult to take down. Kara was tasked to gathering intel that would help Thanos find their weaknesses, should a conflict ever come. Kara's sister, Nivana, told her she was being exiled-that this mission was just busy work to get Kara away from Titan and out of their father's sight. Kara shook this memory from her head, remembering her sister's hate and knowing those words were only brought on by jealousy, not truth _. She was assigned an important mission, one only she could do,_ she told herself. She had to take it seriously.

DING-DONG

"Finally," Kara breathed as she put her laptop down on the couch cushion beside her. She had been waited for her Chinese food for a while. She hopped up and grabbed her wallet on the way to her small NYC apartment door.

"Thor?" Kara's eyes widened as she opened the door to reveal the avenger standing in her hallway.

He smiled at her as he strolled inside. Kara had barely recognized him as he no longer looked like a character from mythology. His long hair had been cropped short and he replaced his armor for a tee shirt, jeans, and a jacket.

"What are you doing here?" Kara asked, taken aback by this very surprise visit, "I thought you went home."

Thor smirked, "Surprised to see me?"

"Yeah," Kara said, marked with a little exasperation, "…I am."

He walked around the small apartment, stopping at the book self and lifting a copy and flipping it over in his hands.

"So, what are you doing on earth?" Kara asked again.

"I don't know," Thor said, a sly grin spreading on his face, "I guess I had a reason to come back…"

He locked eyes with Kara and they looked at each other in silence. Kara swallowed hard.

"…Tony asked me to." He finally said to break the silence. Kara let out a breath. Thor had a way of making intense and prolonged eye contact that made Kara feel like she couldn't breathe. She didn't know if it was one of his super powers, or if he just didn't really get how to do human interactions.

"So, Tony called you?" Kara asked, trying to regain her composure, as well as hide some jealousy.

"Something like that, yes."

"So then, why are you here, in my apartment?" Kara wondered if the avengers sent him to get her.

"I thought I would say hello."

"Hi."

"Hello."

 _Again, with the eye contact_ , Kara thought. Kara was the one to break it this time. "I'm actually kind of busy right now. I am just finishing up my thesis." She went over to her computer.

"What is a thesis?" Thor asked following her over and joining her on her couch.

It felt very odd to Kara. Her apartment had been her little haven, her little place that no other person had come in. In fact, she didn't even know how Thor got her address. And it was weird, to have him here. Not bad, just weird.

"It's my final paper for my graduate studies. After this, I am done." Kara smiled.

"Will there be a ceremony when you finish these studies?" Thor asked, genuinely interested.

"Um, yeah, actually. But I wasn't sure if I was going to go. I didn't go to my bachelor graduation."

"Why is that?"

"Oh, I don't know. I guess I don't really like attention on me." Kara shrugged.

Thor raised his eyebrows, "Really?"

Kara was taken aback by the implied accusation and threw her head back and laughed. She realized since her and Thor had met, she had been the center of attention, and I guess Thor knew she hadn't minded it then. Thor laughed with her and then he said, "You should go to the ceremony. I believe it is important to the humans and a high honor. You should accept that."

Kara nodded soberly, "I should… its just that I know no one in the audience would be there to see me. I don't really have anybody here."

"Well, I will go." Thor said, matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Kara asked, doubtfully, "Why would a god from another planet want to come to a little human graduation?"

"Because you're there."

Thor and Kara looked at each other again. She realized-this time-she didn't really mind it.

When the Chinese actually did arrive, Kara invited Thor to stay. They ate, talked, and drank, late into the night. Kara asked Thor to tell her about Asgard and he described the shining, golden city, the vast mountain ranges and the green plains. Thor asked about G'mai, but Kara had little to tell him of it. Thor was one of the only people she had met who had actually heard of her planet before and heard of its implosion. "I remember my father saying something about a small planet in the Apex Quadrant being completely annihilated. No one knew what caused it. As far as we knew on Asgard, there were no survivors."

"Only me and my parents," Kara lied, "We were able to escape."

"How old are you?" Thor asked, "Because that planet was destroyed a long time ago."

Kara nodded, "About 94 earth-years ago… I don't really know how old I am. It's hard to count years when I have lived on so many different planets with different rotations around their suns. How old are you?"

Thor had to think about it, "I suppose about 1000… I've never really kept track either."

The two continued to talk and drink, and they bonded over alien life on earth. They complained about human culture and exchanged stories of trying to fit in.

"I just don't understand it!" Thor boomed as him and Kara started talking about the weird things humans did, "why is freedom and democracy held on such a high pedestal? It's not just in America, I've seen this ideal held all over the planet. When will humans realize they won't get anything done if they don't have a king telling them what to do?"

Kara laughed at Thor's passionate, and slightly drunk, statements, "I know, but you need to recognize your own bias, you are coming from the ruling class on your planet. Just to play devil's advocate, you've never experienced what it is to be a commoner. Earth has tried the king thing, and I don't think they liked it."

"Yes, but that is why you have to have the right king," Thor continued, "if the minority of humans are intelligent, and the majority of people are stupid, then in a democratic society, where all people get an equal vote and majority rules, would it not be obvious that the stupidest choice will be made each and every time?"

"I agree with you on that," Kara said, "That people are never truly happy if they do what ever they want. They can only find true happiness when a more supreme being tells them what to do."

"Exactly!" Thor agreed.

"That's why humans rely so much on religion. They need someone telling them what to do."

Thor nodded in drunk agreement.

"So, who will rule earth? You?" Kara asked.

"No, that's more my brother's desire. What I desire for earth is that they have their own king. One that will love them and rule them in fairness," Thor poured himself another drink, "and I don't think my brother would be very good at that... No, I will rule Asgard one day. I hope to be the kind of king my father was." Thor leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes.

Kara smiled, "I think you will be a good king one day."

As Kara said this, she meant it. She could see that Thor had a good heart. It surprised her a little bit, that he had love for the humans and desired to protect them, even though he was objectively superior. It was an idea she had never encountered before. Thanos raised her with the same philosophy Thor had: that is that there are those who rule and those who are ruled, and that happiness, balance, and peace would only be brought to the universe when there was a clear line of who was who. Thanos believed that everyone needed a superior being to rule them, that they would only truly be happy if they served that being. Thanos also believed that he was that superior being and that he not only could, but was destined, to rule the universe. It had been his life's mission, ever since Kara could remember. Everything he had done, he had done for all the universe to be in balance. Kara had never doubted her father's beliefs. She knew in his heart his desires were for good-for peace. _But_ , he would always tell her, _there are those that profit off war; there are those that will fight my mission and stand in our way of peace. We will never achieve peace in the universe without first war; never balance without first destruction_. Kara had come to earth believing the avengers where among those who profited off war. But now, as Thor slept, passed out, on her couch, she wondered if maybe he was just simply, genuinely, good.


	7. Chapter 7

_Ben had been with us two years before he started feeling at home. He started playing and running around. He even started sleeping in his own bed. It was then that I saw his true powers. Father had us train and fight together, and one day he did it. With his hands, he is able to bring up energy shields—force fields—big enough to cover himself and nearly indestructible. His shields took energy from his surroundings, so when I tried to fight against them, they stripped me of energy. It's the only thing I have come across that has been able to stop me. Although his body was weak, he contained such power within him._

 _Training and sparring with each other turned into sparring with other men that Thanos brought on. Fighting them turned into fighting in battles and wars. We went all over the galaxy fighting for my father's holy mission, fighting for peace and justice—what he thought was justice. And I was at the front of it all. I was at the front of our small army of powerful people. I was the shield and the wrecking ball, and I could wipe out our enemies in just minutes. I became his general, his number two, and I raised him an army_.

Kara was never one for sleeping. She recalled very short nights and long days back on G'mai, and knew it was in her genetic make-up not to need much sleep. If she had nothing else to do, she could sleep for about an hour a night, but when she was busy she would go nights without any sleep and be fine. Tonight, was one of those nights. While Thor was asleep on her couch, she took the opportunity to finish her thesis. She felt good about it when she was done. School had come very easy to her, for that she was grateful. When she first arrived to earth, she didn't really know how she should spend her time. She had come to earth with money, so she didn't need to work. She spent the first few months walking around the city and exploring this new way of life. At first, the chaos of the city grated on her, and she often retreated to the mountains or tops of buildings for peace. Eventually, the city life and noises became familiar and this place had started feeling like home.

Back on Titan, her family lived in a huge palace built for kings. The planet was once beautiful, Thanos would tell her, full of life, bright, shiny… perfect. It had gone to ruins long before Kara arrived. The palace, for most her childhood, was in disrepair. It had taken a lot of work to build it up to its former glory. After the palace, Thanos started building up the rest of the planet, though it was uninhabited except for their family, his men, and his household staff. Although it will never be beautiful or full of life like it once was, Kara loved Titan because it was quiet. She spent countless hours alone in the forests and swimming in the waters. Adjusting to life on earth was difficult, but through the years Kara began to realize maybe she didn't like being alone. Even now in her apartment in the middle of night, cars outside her window were honking, she could hear the deep base of music from the floor above, and Thor snored beside her, but she couldn't have been happier. She wasn't alone anymore.

Thor slept until 10 am, waking with a grunt and a moan. They parted ways shortly after, Kara having to return to school for a bit, and Thor heading straight to Stark tower. Thor asked her to come there when she was done at school, but Kara explained that she didn't want to come where she wasn't wanted. Thor assured her she was, and she should come. She said she would think about it and ran off to catch the bus.

Thor hailed a cab and left for the tower. The first thing he did when he got there was head towards the kitchen. Lucky for him, Tony prepared and had a breakfast buffet laid out for the gathering team. Thor grabbed a plate and started loading up. Natasha walked by, popping a grape in her mouth, "Getting a late start today, are we?" she asked Thor.

"Yeah, I feel like we had all decided to meet at 9." Tony added.

"I apologize. I was up late last night with Kara." Thor said, mouth already full and smiling.

Tony and Nat exchanged a glance. Bruce and Steve did the same.

"What were you doing with Kara?" Steve was the first to ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Talking." Thor's sly grin grew as he replied to the captain. Steve rolled his eyes and before he could respond, Bruce cut in, "Well, now that we're all here, let's get started—"

"Hold up, Banner," Tony cut in, "I think we need to talk about his more."

"I don't think we do," Nat said, feeling the tensions of the men grow in the room.

"No, no, I think we do," Tony was adamant, "You weren't talking to her about the time stone?"

"No!" Thor exclaimed, taken a back by Tony's accusation, "I have never gone about, sharing national secrets."

"Then what were you talking about?" Tony wasn't satisfied.

"Let's just drop it," Steve was seething, suspecting Thor was implying that they did more than just talk.

"He said he didn't say anything, he didn't say anything. Ok, Tony?" Bruce said, trying to calm the men down. A moment of silence passed.

"…I did however invite her to come here later." Thor said, looking out for Tony's reaction.

Tony just shook his head, "I don't trust her."

Thor motioned to Clint, "Hawkeye, did you not follow her? Has she done anything wrong?" He asked with passion.

"No," Clint answered, shrugging, "Totally normal. There was one night S.H.I.E.L.D. lost visual when she went out, but we haven't seen anything. She just seems like a normal college student."

"See, Tony? I cannot understand why you do not trust her." Thor said.

"I mean, is it just me?" Tony looked around the room for any agreement.

"I don't know," Steve started, "I am not suspicious, but I do wish I knew more about her."

"You all just have to get to know her, like I have done." Thor said, trying to reassure the group, "Please, tonight. Invite her over Tony. Se looks up to you. She cares what you think."

Softening slightly, Tony said he would think about it.

It was 3 pm when Kara received a text form Tony Stark: _Dinner tonight, Kiddo? We need your help with something._

Finally! It was an opening. It was small, and Kara didn't know where it would lead, but she was happy to finally hear from Tony.

When Kara arrived at the tower, she was greeted by a receptionist who showed her to a private elevator. As she stepped inside, JARVIS greeted her and took her up to the floor Tony lived on. She was happy to see everyone again. Thor was happy to see her and waved with a smile from across the room. They all talked and ate. After dinner, some of the men chatted and Natasha went further form the group and motioned for Kara to come over and join her. The two sat on the couch and Nat warmed her hands by the fireplace. Kara reached out her hand to the flames, but like always, she couldn't feel the warmth. "So, you and Thor, huh?" Nat asked without turning away from the fire. Kara tilted her head to the side, confused. Nat turned to face Kara and leaned in, "He spilled the beans on how you two spent the night together." Kara's eyes got wide and held up a hand waving, "No, it wasn't really like that. We just talked." Natasha laughed quietly and nodded, "Yeah, that's what he said, too."

"Really." Kara emphasized, "I've never, I mean, I don't really know, I mean… it wasn't like that."

"Ok, ok," Nat put a hand on a rambling Kara's knee, "I believe you. I mean it's fine if you did…" Natasha let her voice fall. Kara furrowed her eyebrows. She leaned in close to Natasha.  
"I have never…" She repeated, whispering, "I wouldn't even know what to do."

Nat's eyes got wide, "Really?" grinning, she replied, "Well, do you like him?"

Kara thought for a moment. She wasn't accustomed to being asked what she did or didn't like. She never really thought about it. She looked back at the god: big, strong, handsome. He was always happy, always smiling. He was also kind… and she thought maybe he liked her… maybe that was all that mattered. If he liked her, it didn't matter if she felt the same way, right? She had a mission, and maybe being close— _very close_ —to Thor would help her in that mission.

"Yes," Kara finally said, returning her gaze to Natasha, "I think I do."


	8. Chapter 8

_My brother fell in love with a girl, one of the kitchen servants, on Titan. They kept it a secret from everyone, but I found them in bed together. I told him not to see her anymore, I knew no good would come from it, but he didn't listen. His head was clouded by love. One day he was called into see Thanos. Thanos said to him that he needed to choose between the girl or the family, that he couldn't be loyal to both. Ben needed to make a choice, and when he chose the girl, Thanos told him to go to her, to marry her. Ben was ecstatic as he left to find her. When he came into the kitchen, he found her on the floor, dead. Thanos had her killed long before he asked Ben where his loyalties lie. There was never any choice. Thanos just wanted to see what Ben would do, to see if he was truly loyal._

 _Ben ran away, and Thanos made it my job to go get him back. He was heartbroken, but he came back. When he did, he made it clear that he only came back because of me, that he was going to be loyal to me. I thought my father would be angry at this, but instead he was proud. He said it was time I started gaining my own followers if I was ever going to inherit his kingdom._

It was late into the night when Kara decided to leave her room at the Stark tower. Tony's plan was to brief the group on the new mission after dinner, but as the evening went on, they all had too much to drink and realized work probably wouldn't be getting done that night. Kara slept over in the tower, ready for the intel briefing in the morning. She was given her old room to sleep in, but she knew she wouldn't spend the night there. She knew what she had to do.

She walked through the dark hallway and went to the next floor up, straight to Thor's door. She paused before knocking, her fist hovering near the metal door. Why was she feeling so uneasy, so hesitant? She closed her eyes and brushed all her feelings away from her. The mission should be the only thing on her mind. Before she could knock, the door swung open. Thor stood there, and they looked at each other surprised.

"Um, where are you going?" Kara's eyes were wide.

"Oh, nowhere." Thor answered, embarrassed. Then he gave a small smile to Kara, "Would you like to come in?"

Kara smiled. Her stomach leapt as she walked into his room. It was huge, with windows looking out on to the city. Kara went to them, taking in the view of the city lights shining like stars in the dark of night. Without a word, Thor walked over and stood behind her. He looked down at her and put his hands on her shoulders. Kara spun around and in a second she was standing on her tip toes, kissing him. He leaned down and into her kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close to him. She felt her body being lifted and pushed against the glass windows. Kara wrapped her legs around him, and she could feel a hand on her thigh. All of the sudden she panicked. She pulled her head back from him and they looked at each other.

"I'm sorry…" Kara whispered.

Thor took a step back and Kara stood on her own, her hands still wrapped around Thor's neck. She shook her head slowly and looked down at the ground.

Thor leaned down and kissed her cheek, lingering for a moment before he pulled away. Catching her eyes, he whispered back, "You have nothing to apologize for. I'm glad you came here."

He smiled at Kara, and she smiled back, "Do you mind… do you mind if we just talk."

Kara and Thor talked almost all night. They laughed and they whispered as they laid on Thor's bed. He fell asleep around 3am and Kara watched as he breathed beside her, still holding her hand. She was surprised by how the night had gone. Kara had gone to Thor's room with the intention to bed him. She had learned long ago that women held power in sex, the power to get what they wanted, and Kara wanted Thor to be on her side. She wanted his trust and loyalty. But when it came time to actually do it, something deep within her stopped her. She couldn't sleep with him, and she didn't know why. Was she scared? Why? She knew Thor posed no physical threat to her; even his powers of lightning and thunder couldn't have harmed her. And decades of hardening herself from love or relationships meant she could never be hurt emotionally, right? She didn't know. She didn't know if she was strong enough for this. Could she sleep with him and not love him? Could she love him and still be loyal to her father? Doubts of her ability to complete the mission crept into her mind. She closed eyes and leaned her head on to Thor's chest. Though her mind filled with doubts, there in that moment, Kara wondered if the feeling she was feeling now was what warmth felt like.

Thor awoke with the sunrise and, annoyed, tried to wave the sunlight away from his eyes—with no avail. He looked down on what was weighing on his chest. In a wave, memories of last night flooded his mind as he realized a sleeping Kara was in his bed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her gently closer, hoping not to wake her. He wanted to be as close as he possible could be to her. He no longer felt like he wanted her, but rather that he _needed_ her. The night before, felt like he _had_ to see her, and he had planned to go to her room. To his surprise, she had come to him, and he felt like their minds and hearts were inexplicably linked. Maybe, Kara was the woman he was always supposed to be with. Thor had loved many, _many_ , women. Only one had ever broken his heart. He thought he was mean to be with Jane, he thought they would be together forever. But there were too many differences, him being a god from another planet while she was simply a human. But still, she was beautiful to him, smart and driven. But Kara was all of those things too! She was smart, she was passionate, she was beautiful. And they connected on their similarities, instead of being driven apart by their differences like him and Jane. Jane had been frightened by everything he was and everything he could become; Kara embraced it. She made him want to be stronger. And their kiss was fire! Hot, passionate, alien flames. Remembering it, Thor felt the pain of his and Jane's breakup melting away.


	9. Chapter 9

_He loved me—_ loves _me. I know he does. He only ever said it once, that he loved me. But even before then I knew it. I was his first child, he always favored me. He showed me his love not in his kindness towards me or affection, but in the way he trusted me above all his other men… in the responsibilities he gave me. And he was my family, he was my father. And I loved him._

It wasn't until breakfast that Kara saw Thor again. She had pretended to sleep when he woke up, and then she slipped out while he was in the shower. Her cheeks flushed slightly when he walked into the meeting room and she avoided eye contact. The group had been sipping their coffees and snacking on the breakfast spread, chatting idly- some member still half asleep. Kara's focus was like a laser beam as she stared at the screen at the front of the room. The room quieted as some of the avengers noticed Thor starring intensely at Kara, and Kara avoiding his gaze like the plague. Natasha chuckled under her breathe and Steve felt his face grow hot with anger, but he didn't know why. Kara was an adult, free to do as she wished… he wasn't jealous… or so he told himself.

"Tony, let's start. We're all here and we've prolonged this enough." Bruce called from the far end of the table, opposite Stark.

Swallowing the last of his blueberry muffin, Tony stood up and directed his gaze to the screen behind him. Without a word, Tony pulled an image up on the screen. The image had been captured through the video cameras in the Iron Man suit. On the image stood an alien man with purple skin, huge and imposing. A lump grew in Kara's throat. _Father_. Had they caught her? Was this why they called her in, to accuse her and crucify her? Her face flushed red and she forced herself to breathe, to calm down, act normal.

Tony started, "As most of you know, we believe the attack on Asgard was directed by Thanos—"

"There was an attack on Asgard?" Kara cut in, whipping her head towards Thor, eyes wide. Why hadn't he mentioned it before?

Thor nodded, "We do not know it was Thanos. There was a surprise attack and an attempt to steal the tesseract. They were not able to succeed."

"Right," Tony continued, "And we think his next play is to come here for another stone."

Kara looked around the room. None of the other avengers looked confused like she was, "I'm sorry Tony, I'm lost here, what stone?"

"An infinity stone," another picture popped up on the screen of first the tesseract then a green stone, "A man named Thanos is after these stones. He had come to earth years ago, attempting to take the time stone."

"We sent him packing," Steve boasted.

"We were able to hold him off," Tony continued explaining to Kara, "But we think he is coming back, this time with an army."

"And who knows how many stones he has gotten a hold of by now," Natasha added.

All of this information was new to Kara, and she tried to process it as they told her, "What's the point of these stones? And what is a tesseract?"

"They hold immense power, should you be able to wield it," Thor explained. "The tesseract contains the space stone. It is safe on Asgard in our vault. However, the time stone is on earth, and it's unprotected."

"The time stone is hidden away, in a temple in Tibet. The Lu Ri Temple. It is guarded by monks, but better than that it is hidden, hard to find or reach. We are hoping it will be safe there." Tony concluded his slides with a map and picture of the temple, high in the mountains.

"If he gets his hands on even one of these stones," Natasha said, solemnly looking deep into Kara's eyes, "his power could be greater than we could ever overcome. If he succeeds with what he wants and gets all of the stones, he would be the most powerful being in the universe. He could wipe out all life with a snap of his fingers."

Kara swallowed hard. Only one word came to her mind as she thought about how her father would use this power: _balance_.

The meeting concluded with Tony warning them all to stay on high alert, that an attack to earth could be coming. As the avengers and Kara filed out of the room, Bruce held back, staring at the floor with a hand rubbing his neck. Tony was shutting the room down when he noticed.

"Is there something else, Bruce?" Tony asked, quizzically.

"Tony," Bruce was whispering, and it forced Tony to lean in closer, "I thought the time stone was here… in New York." He looked at Tony, "I thought Strange had it, why would he take it to Tibet?"

Tony glanced at the door and shuffled quickly to close it. He came back and dropped his voice low, "It is, you're right."

"Then what was the point of this meeting? Just a load of BS?" Bruce asked, letting his frustration rise the volume of his voice.

Tony threw a hand out, motioning for him to stay quiet. Begrudgingly, he leaned in, "I need to make sure," He huffed a deep sigh before continuing, "I need to make sure Kara is on our side."

Shocked slightly, Banner pulled away. He opened his mouth to speak, but Tony cut in.

"I need to know she isn't going to run off and sell this information to the highest bidder, I need to make sure she isn't working with anyone. This way, if the temple gets hit, we'll know she can't be trusted."

Bruce just shook his head, "And if she finds out you were testing her, if she doesn't want to help us anymore? What then, Tony? We barely beat Thanos off last time he was here. We aren't strong enough, Tony!" Bruce motioned to the door fervently, but kept his voice to a whisper, "that girl out there is. She is stronger than all of us combined-stronger than all your suits. She is our only defense when he comes back."

"You don't think I know that?" Tony's eyes flashed in fury, "That is exactly why we need to know if we can trust her."

Kara's head was spinning by the time she got to her room and closed herself in. Trying to calm her breath, she paced around her room. She never knew anything about stones or unlimited power, why hadn't Thanos told her of these before she left? If they were as important to Thanos as the avengers made them out to be, wouldn't Kara have been the first to know? Kara ran over her entire life with Thanos in her mind, recounting the times he had trusted her, and only her, with military information. He always told her of his plans. How could he have kept this from her? She tried to remember when he had first come across the avengers. She wasn't with him for it, she had been on another planet fighting giants with her brother and sisters. That battle was a little over a month before she was sent to Earth, and she remembered him telling her about his fight with he avengers. He said he had heard of a group protecting earth, that they wouldn't allow him to rule it out of their pride and arrogance. They wanted to be the saviors of earth, so they let it fall to ruin only so they could 'save' it again, is what he told her. They were powerful, and he said that the last time he came to earth to try to talk with them, they fought back, and he gave up, knowing they were too prideful to listen to reason. That's why, Thanos had told her, that when it came time to rule earth as well, if the avengers were still unwilling to cooperate, he would need to know how to defeat them. But now, the information she just heard didn't match up with the story she was told before she came here. Regardless, she believed the avengers story, wanting ultimate power sounded like her father. His goal was to rule and restore the universe, it wasn't surprising that he had been seeking out these stones to afford him the power to do so. What didn't make sense was why he had never told Kara. She though about what Nat said, that he could wipe out all life in the blink of an eye. She shook that thought out of her head as quickly as it came in. _Balance_. The word hung in the air in the room, making it thick and hard to breathe. She couldn't shake it as easily. Kara sighed and closed her eyes. _He knows what he's doing. He deserves to rule, he will restore the universe_ , Kara told herself. She might not have known every detail of his great plan, but she believed in his mission. She believed in him.

A knock on Kara's door pulled her out of her thoughts. Natasha opened the door and walked in before Kara could respond.

"Hey, there you are," Nat started, leaning her head to the side, "We were wondering where you were when you didn't come down to dinner."

Kara furrowed her eyebrows and turned her head to look out her window. To her utter surprise, a dark black night sky met her gaze. She realized she had spent the whole day so focused on thinking that she literally couldn't feel the hours pass.

"Yeah, I took a nap," was the only lie that Kara thought could make sense. Kara stretched, genuinely, because she had been sitting on the edge of her bed in the same position since the morning. "I was just so tired from last night."

With that little piece of news Nat grinned and shut the door quickly before turning and jumping beside Kara on the bed. "Last night with Thor?"

"Oh God!" Kara's head leaned back in disgust, "Does everyone know I went to his room?"

Nat threw her head back and laughed, "No, no, I just guessed. After our conversation before I thought maybe you two would get together. Tell me everything."

Kara shook her head, but a small smile started forming, "Nothing happened. We just talked… actually. Well, we kissed, but that was it."

Nat's eyes had gotten wider with every one of Kara's words, "A kiss can mean a lot, don't feel like there has to be sex for there to be something between Thor and you."

Kara nodded, listening. Her voice dropped a little quieter, as she considered if she should tell Nat about how she was feeling, "I wanted more, I know that, I just felt this kind of panic, and I couldn't go through with it."

"Wait, are you saying you have never had sex before?" Nat looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I told you that before."

"Oh! I thought you were just talking about sleeping with Thor." There was a pause before Nat continued, "Why do you think you've never been with a man before?"

Kara shrugged, "I guess I just never really had those feelings for someone. Every guy I have ever gotten close to has been family, or someone I would definitely not like in that way." Kara shuddered with he thought of her father's henchmen. They had never even been remotely an option.

"No one in school that you were interested in?"

Kara laughed. She thought about her classmates in university, most of them in their 20s and decades her junior, "Honestly, I don't think a human could handle me. I feel like I would break them."

Nat laughed as well. She understood that it took a very special man to attract her interest. Not just anyone could keep up with her.

Kara leaned in closer to Natasha, remembering one man she had met her first year on earth, "There was this one guy. He was the first person I ever really talked to in school. He was really sweet and invited me to a party. He was my first kiss, actually, but that was it. I kind of shut him down after that. I didn't want to get too close, you know?"

"I know," Nat nodded genuinely.

"I've never told anyone that, about him, I mean," Kara went on, "It's really nice to have a girl to talk to. I grew up around only men. The first sister I had hated me, and my other little sister was closer to a daughter…" Kara could feel tears creeping to her eyes, and she knew she had to stop talking about her sisters before all of the memories came back.

"I didn't know you had siblings. I thought just you and your parents came to earth?" Nat questioned, her head tilted slightly to one side.

Kara bit her tongue hard. It took everything in her not to let her facial expression change as she realized the weight of what she just said. _Stupid_! Kara's reality and lie blurred together. _Idiot_! She told Nat parts of her true story, and she had to rack her brain for the details of the lie about her past she had already told them. She tried to nod calmly, "Yeah, my sisters didn't make it… they weren't able to escape with us." Kara closed her eyes and hoped the lie made sense, that Nat would buy it.

Natasha put a hand on Kara's shoulder and gave her a sad smile, "I'm so sorry… Let's talk about something else."


	10. Chapter 10

_After my brother Ben, came Nivana. She was brought to Titan as a teenager, but before that she had worked as a slave girl. We all said that Father rescued her from a life of servanthood, but in reality, she just traded one master for another. She was angry, all the time. She was jealous of father's favoritism of me and that jealousy turned to hate. She tried at every turn to undermine me in front of Father. Her power wasn't that great, but she was trained and molded to be a skilled killer. Soon after her, another brother came. He was never much for words, but he was dutiful and loyal. Him and Nivana became lovers soon after he was brought to Titan. Nivana knew better than to take a lover, especially a boy we welcomed into the family. To her devastation, he was killed in battle soon after. It was during that battle, in fact, that I found a baby girl in the planet's palace. All of her family had been killed and there wasn't anyone left to take care of her. I brought her to Titan and I raised her. She was my last sibling: sweet Bellia…_

Heat. Chills. Hunger. Madness. Freedom… Euphoria. In a single movement, Kara felt everything at once. Feelings she had words for but never known; parts of herself she guessed lived in her, but never seen. Her soul flew out of her body, up, up, up into the night sky. Among the stars. She could reach out and touch them.

It took several nights of Kara trying to be with Thor before it happened. She would go to his room, telling herself that tonight was the night. He would be happy to see her and wrap her in a big hug. They would kiss, and he would pull her close… and she would, just… stop. She would always apologize, but he was always fine. Thor just liked having someone to talk to again, someone to sleep in his bed. They became each other's comfort and rested in each other's arms. After the third night of nothing happening, she sat up in Thor's bed as he slept. She wondered why she couldn't have sex with him. Was it guilt? Because she knew she was doing something wrong to Thor by tricking him? He was a good man, she knew that. Maybe they all were. Just because they might be good, does that mean they are exempt from Thanos' plans for the universe? Is sparing them from defeat worth leaving earth at risk? Thanos had always made this very clear: the universe would never know peace until there was balance, justice, and a supreme power. The avengers were defending their planet, but they didn't realize they were just delaying the inevitable. Until Thanos rules it all, the world will not have peace. The avengers were putting a band aid on a severed limb, without even realizing. Were they willfully ignorant or just stupid? Kara found herself relighting the anger towards the avengers she held when she first came here. Not anger against them, but righteous anger for the earth and its people. She hoped that it would never come to a fight between Thanos and the avengers, but if it did, she knew she was on the right side.

She nudged Thor awake. His eyes opened, looking around the room before meeting Kara's. Kara had fire in her eyes as she pulled herself close to him. _No going back_. He held her, and stroked her hair. She hissed his lips, then his chest. She straddled him, but her weight didn't crush him. His fingers pressed into her thighs and his lips trailed her jaw, collarbone, stomach. They inhaled each other, body and soul. He loved her with everything he was, intensely and passionately. And Kara felt it all. Everything. Every human feeling she had never known. She floated outside her body and saw into infinity. Kara forgot her anger, she forgot her duty, she even forgot her mission. She feasted on love and desire all night and reveled in the joy it brought her.

This was it. Kara was it. Thor was in love. He laid in his bed the next morning, both hands behind his head as he starred at the ceiling. Kara was in the shower and he traced over the events of the night again and again. He couldn't stop smiling. He knew he was done for. He had given her his everything, all that he was, and she had devoured it. His soul belonged to her, and there was no escaping it. Kara was it for him. Thor chuckled to himself, remembering how confused he had been when Kara woke him up. He instantly thought something was wrong, then when he saw Kara's eyes, he couldn't tell if she was going to kill him or make love to him. He was glad it was the latter. For Thor, it truly was making love. He poured out all of his love to her, and he believed she did the same.

 _I should have done this years ago_ , Kara thought to herself, smiling. She let the water wash over her once more before stepping out of the shower. Wrapped in a towel with hair down and dripping water, she opened the door and peaked out. Thor hadn't moved from his bed and he still had the same dumb smile on his face. She couldn't help but adore him. He was an injured puppy, and she had taken him home and bandaged him. From that day on, Kara felt like a new person. She hadn't realized how scared she had been, not just with Thor, but in life. She had been living in fear and doubt about herself and her mission, and it had been holding her back. But no more. She was so sure. She was empowered. She felt like she could conquer anything.

In the months that followed, Kara and Thor fell into a whirlwind romance. Kara invested all her energy into being among the avengers and learning from them. She started working under Banner, learning from him in his lab. There were only several occasions where she met Hulk, but, inexplicably, he needed up liking her the most out of any of the others on the team (maybe it was because she was the only one who could lift him up and through him in the air). She grew closer to Natasha and was thankful for another woman to exchange exasperated looks and hushed secrets. After a few months, she noticed Tony becoming less and less annoyed by her presence. She asked him one day to teach her about leadership, that she admired his role on the team and how he always stepped up to the plate. Boasting his ego seemed to soften him towards her, and their tension eased. Barton had stepped away for a bit to focus on his family, so that just left Steve. Steve was interesting to Kara. She knew he didn't belong to this world either, having grown up in a different time. His aversion for this place and its ways was apparent and he had an innocence around him. Kara could tell Thor had innocence that manifested itself in him as blissful ignorance. The innocence the captain contained hardened him and turned him away from what he didn't understand. Kara never saw much of Steve, but when she did, his gaze lasted a little too long and it was always overcast by a showdown of sadness… perhaps loss.

There were moments, many moments, that Kara forgot the lie. She began to live in this new reality, accepting her façade as truth. It was only when there were questions or mentions of her made-up past that snapped her back. The more time she spent with the avengers, the more times they laughed, the more she learned about their stories, the more they grew closer, she could feel herself tearing into two—the true Kara, loyal to Thanos, and the new Kara, the one she invented. And she began feeling more and more comfortable as the new Kara, slowly forgetting her 'true' self.

As time went on, Kara felt the desire to retreat back to her own apartment less and less. She spent most nights with Thor, and most of her days with the others. Before long a year pasted since she had first met them. Through out the time there were the occasional missions to be done, saving the world here and there. There was never any attempt to take the stones, not on Asgard and not on earth, by Thanos or any other. Thor occasionally went back to his home planet, checking in, and reported back that all was well. Neither had there been any attack on the monastery in Tibet, and Tony felt more and more confidence in Kara as the time went on.

Even as Kara lost sight more and more of her mission there, she couldn't help herself from taking mental notes of the weaknesses within the group. She knew a team couldn't survive with two alpha leaders, and already saw some cracks in the foundation as Tony and Steve often disagreed. Kara knew it wouldn't take much to break the group in two if the leaders felt their differences couldn't be overcome. She also found out that, while Thor was strong and mighty, most of his power came from his hammer, Mjolnir. Without it, Thor told Kara, his was as good as useless. Tony had his faults and weaknesses of his own. She noticed how important Pepper was to him, and how he would drop everything else to make sure she was ok. Tony's strength came from his suit, and without it he would be defenseless. Natasha had very little weaknesses, Kara found. She seemed to have complete control of her emotions and was highly skilled in combat and cool under pressure. Kara felt nothing but affection for her friend, but she still kept one eye out for what could neutralize the Black Widow. And Banner's weakness was obvious. To neutralize Bruce, one just had to make him angry. However, once he was angry, you would have a much bigger problem on your hands—his name was Hulk. Figuring out how to hold Hulk back still puzzled Kara. She never had tried yet, but she thought perhaps she herself could hold him back if she used the extent of her strength. Little else seemed to slow him, and the only thing she had seen him calm to was Natasha's voice. So, perhaps she was his only weakness.

Kara wondered if the avengers had these thoughts about her as well. She wondered if they kept one eye out for what they could do to stop her. Physically, she had no weaknesses, a fact she wasn't so much prideful about, but rather accepted as simply true. What was a little bit difficult for her to swallow was the fact that she had a weaker mind, susceptible to those who had the power of mind control. Back when she lived on Titan, she would try to train and exercise her mind to be stronger just like she would train her body. She hoped that one day it would get strong enough to withstand the Createan Man's debilitating darkness. It never was. Perhaps the avengers thought that maybe love for Thor would be a weakness for her. Well, the joke was on them because she _knew_ she didn't love Thor. Even at night, when he held her, and she felt perfectly safe in his arms, she told herself she didn't love him. Even when he smiled at her and caused her heart to flutter, she knew she couldn't love him. She reminded herself of what her father had said to her when she asked him why he had killed the girl that Ben loved. Thanos had said, "We are in a line of work that doesn't have room for love. It is a weakness we cannot afford. Love for another does nothing but hold us back and give others a way to use it against us. Ben needed to learn that, sooner rather than later. You do too."

"But," Kara remembered responding, "You you love me, Father, is that not the same thing? Do you not follow your own rule?"

"It's true." Thanos had responded, reaching a hand down to cup her cheek, "But I know I will never let my love for you change my mission. I will never put you above what is best for the universe. I will never let love cloud my vision. Your brother doesn't know how to do this yet, how to sacrifice himself and the ones he loves for a greater cause. He isn't strong enough to do that. It is better to never love in the first place."

So, she wouldn't. She wouldn't let herself love. She cared for him, for Thor. She adored Bruce and Natasha. She enjoyed her time with all of them and loved who she was when she was with them. But she would never allow herself to love them.


	11. Chapter 11

_Bellia was very special to me. It seemed like she grew up in a blink of an eye, she was a baby in my arms one minute and a young woman the next. I was blown away by how fierce and fearless she became. She took on every challenge, every assignment from our father with determination and ferocity. I was her teacher and her commanding officer, but it didn't take long for her to start doing whatever she wanted, taking unnecessary risks and ignoring my advise. She was the first of my siblings to openly be in a relationship. She and a boy on Titan fell in love and Bellia never hid it from anyone. She had no fear, and she hadn't lived long enough to see the reproductions of these actions. I warned her to stop, to end it. But she never listened._

With a good book, Kara tipped toed from Thor's room out into the common kitchen and lounge space of the tower. It was her latest favorite ritual: a white Russian and a classic book by the fire place. Usually, she would continue her studies with all of her free time while the world slept at night. But lately, she had been getting so much done during the day, at night, she did what she thought would be more fun. She chewed on her lip as she excitedly went to reach for the vodka on the top shelf when she heard a noise behind her. Spinning around, she saw Steve lounging back in an armchair, facing the fire. She headed toward him, "Hey," she said in a hushed voice to not wake the others, "I didn't know you were here."

Steve nodded solemnly, "Just got back."

"Wanna drink?" Kara held up the vodka bottle, shaking it slightly.

"I'm ok." He answered shortly. After pause, he said, "I can't get drunk. Even if I wanted to."

Kara smiled again and plopped on the couch beside his chair, "Me either. I just like the taste."

Stoic, Steve didn't respond. He just kept looking into the fire. Kara felt slightly annoyed at him for ruining her plans for the night. She would have to find somewhere else to read if he was going to be bringing down the mood in this room. She was about to get up to leave when he spoke.

"Why are you up so late?" he asked, still not turning his vision from the flames.

"I'll let you in on a secret: I actually don't really sleep. I mean I can, sometimes, but I don't need to. I get most my energy from the sun." She waited for a response that didn't come. "Why are _you_ up so late?"

"I couldn't sleep."

More silence.

"Why do you hate me?" Kara felt the words come out of her mouth and realized she couldn't take them back. She didn't really know where to go from there. After a little bit, Steve answered.

"Don't you know that what I feel for you isn't hate?" Steve shook his head slowly, then finally, lifted his eyes to meet hers.

She realized then what she hadn't before. She went over the time she had known him. He was friendly to her in the beginning, she even felt close to him. But he started pulling back the more she grew close to Thor. She realized it was only since they made their relationship public to the team that Steve had spent most his time away from the tower, out on missions for S.H.I.E.L.D. The realization hit her like a truck. She didn't know how to respond.

"Steve," she started, cautiously, "I didn't know…"

"It's fine," Steve shook his head again, "I just don't really like spending time around here, seeing you with _him_. I thought maybe, when you first got here, that we felt the same way. But you ended up with him."

Kara bite her lip and furrowed her brow. She didn't really know what to say. If this were a different situation, if she was a different person, she could have seen herself with someone like Steve. He was strong, and dependable and honorable. She cared for him and she never wanted him to be hurt. She didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Steve, I care about you—" she could just muster a whisper, but it wasn't enough. He got up and walked out of the room before she could say anything else.

Kara continued to think about that night into the next morning. She was finding it difficult to concentrate on the conversation Nat, Bruce, and Thor were having. She hugged her knees to her chest and took sips of her coffee as the others laughed and talked.

"Don't you wish you could go?" Bruce laughed to Kara. His question pulled her mind away from last night and into the present.

"Sorry, what? Go where?"

Nat shot her a quizzical look, but answered the question, "Thor was just telling us about Asgard."

"Kara is bored because she has heard it all before," Thor said, smiling and taking another bite of toast.

Kara just shook her head with a small laugh. She didn't want to explain what she was thinking about.

"A city of gold, palaces, a rainbow bridge, it sounds amazing," Bruce added.

"And don't forget the beaches," Thor added proudly, "The softest sand and the clearest water you have ever seen. I will take you someday, Kara."

"Well, I want to go," said Natasha.

"Fine! We will all go!" Thor cheered with a pound of his fists on the table, shaking all of their beverages.

"I've never really been to the beach." Kara admitted, losing her mind to her thoughts a bit, "I think there's so much on earth I've never seen or done yet."

Nat could tell Kara was closing in on herself. She put a hand on Kara's knee, "Then let's go. Let's go see a beach, we'll take a little trip. Tony's got an island I'm sure he would let us stay at. We can get away for a few days." The guys nodded in the background.

Kara smiled at the idea, a chance to get away is just what she wanted. Her smiled faded as Steve walked into the kitchen.

"Would you like to come?" Thor yelled out to him.

Steve poured himself a cup of coffee while Bruce added, "We've decided to go on a trip for a few days to the island. You wanna come? Relax for a bit?"

Steve looked up at Kara before he shook his head, "Sorry, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants me to come back. I don't think I could take the time away."

"Well," Natasha stood up from the table, "Could you give us a ride?"


	12. Chapter 12

_She thought she was untouchable. She loved as fearlessly as she fought and was a favorite among all of our siblings and fellow soldiers. All except one. Thanos hated her recklessness. He told me time and time again that she needed to behave herself. He told me to keep her in line. I tried. I always warned her. I always chastised her. But she never listened. Her rebellion broke my heart… her rebellion killed her._

Kara took a fistful of sand and rubbed it between her fingers. The sun had made it burning hot, and she dug her toes into it to feel the warmth. Nothing was like the earth's sun… hot and burning, it let her feel, it gave her energy and a lightness in her soul. Kara never wanted to leave this island. New York just wasn't the same. Cloudy and rainy, too many buildings blocking the sun. She longed to be bathed by this sun forever.

Bruce didn't seem as impressed as he hid under an oversized umbrella, still wearing a shirt and sun hat. His skin wasn't as adaptable to the sun's rays as the rest of the group. Too many years indoors. As soon as he stepped on the island he burnt to a crisp. The rest of his vacation all he longed for was shade. Luckily for him, Natasha would often steal him away to the indoors, spending hours in their bedroom. The couple felt emboldened by the reclusively of the island and being out of both the public eye and the eyes of the rest of the team.

When they were alone, Thor and Kara, refusing to leave the warmth of the sun for a moment, would make love on the beach. Against her better judgment, Kara enjoyed Thor's company more and more. He brought her a joy and warmth other people never had before. His love was life-giving, but the way he looked at her… like she was God. No one had ever loved her like he did. It brought as much guilt to her as it did pleasure. She was wrapped up in a world of him, and just like the blissful vacation, soon it would end, and she would have to be thrown back into the real world.

Steve in the Quinjet had dropped the four off a few days before. This was the last afternoon in the sun before retuning to the city. The crashing of the waves brought Kara out of her relaxed sandy daze. A pit formed in her stomach as she remembered what would be happening soon. It had been exactly a year since she had made contact with Titan. Her mission had been clear, to gain trust and find weaknesses, to contact as soon as that happened, and continue in their midst for a year. When that year was over, Thanos would send a convoy to retrieve her. It would look like a kidnapping, so that their trust in her would remain and be useful in the future. She knew it was coming, but she didn't know when or how. She wasn't ready. In gaining the avengers' trust, the avengers gained Kara's as well. They really felt like a team and Kara wasn't ready to give that up. She new what waited for her on Titan. A family, they called themselves. More like an army… taking orders or dying for your disobedience. Those kinds of tactics were never used by the avengers. If there were conflicts they would work them out and talk about them. This group of colleagues had more love in them for each other than her 'family' ever did. Thor came over in the midst of her thoughts and sat behind her, wordlessly rubbing her shoulders. She leaned her head back onto his chest and listened to his heart beat. It seemed to beat in time with the crashing waves and in its melody her mind retreated from her thoughts and melted back into relaxation.

Back in New York, Thor and Kara were laying squeezed in Kara's small bed in her apartment. Thor, as always, slept soundly while Kara gazed off into the darkness. She felt a stirring, a feeling she couldn't describe. Something was going to happen tonight, she just didn't know what. As quietly as she could, she got up and went to make some tea. The window seat was her favorite part of her time apartment. She was high up and able to look out into the life of the city. She sat there, knees hugged to her chest as she waited for the water to boil. She heard footsteps and whipped her head up to see Thor coming out of her room. Would anyone believe that this man, in sweatpants and bedhead, was a god of myth and legend? She gave him a small smile, "I'm sorry I woke you up."

Thor got on his knees beside the bench so that their eyes met, "I could not sleep anyway."

Kara rolled her eyes. _Then why were you snoring_ , she thought. Before she could say any response, he continued,

"I have been lying awake for days, tossing and turning. My mind gets lost in you and I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. You have consumed me, S'kara. When I have to leave your side, I am in despair. You have become my greatest weakness," he pulled out a box from his pocket. A deep wood box, ornately engraved. Inside it was a necklace with a large stone. Even in the darkness of the night, Kara could see the brilliance in the stone, how it changed colors as the light that streamed in from the window hit it. "I have waited a millennia for you. I never want to let you go." Thor pulled the necklace from the box and tied it around Kara's neck. "This is a stone from Asgard. Thisis the necklace my grandmother used to wear, and my mother after her."

"Thor," Kara shook her head, looking down at the pendant, "I can't accept—"

"Shh," Thor stopped her. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead to hers, "This necklace belongs to the queen of Asgard. Kara, come home with me. Come to Asgard and marry me... and one day we can rule together."

Kara didn't know what to say. But it didn't matter, because before she could say anything a glowing orb hovered outside the window beside them, a red laser scanning the room. The room filled with red and Kara's head whipped around to the window. Thor hand flashed out, and in a moment, Mjölnir flew into his palm. Pushing Kara out of the way, Thor threw Mjölnir through the window crashing into the scanning orb. The orb exploded, bursting through the apartment and blasting the two into the hallway. Kara looked up, and through the fire and smoke, her ears still ringing from the blast, she saw figures walking towards her led by Nivana. _They're here…_

 **It feels like its been forever since I've added anything to this story. I feel like it will take a little while to get back into the swing of writing regularly. Thank you to anyone still reading, haha.**


	13. Chapter 13

_One morning, about two months before I came to earth, I saw Bellia's ship flying out of the base. I was the one who assigned Bellia's missions, and usually I went with her, so I thought she was just recklessly joy riding. When her ship left the atmosphere, I knew something was wrong. I went to find Thanos to alert him, then I would go after her. But he already knew. When I found him, he had been waiting for me. The Createan man and his other men around him. He told me that Bellia was ready for her first mission; she was going to an Ocum planet, one of our greatest and most powerful enemies at the time, to assassinate their commander. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had come up with that plan, except I was going to be the one to sneak in and assassinate. Even then, there was a high chance I would die in the process. We gave up the plan because we knew it would be a suicide mission. I started to argue with him, that she wasn't ready, we had to radio and turn her back, she would die… and then I stopped. Thanos didn't argue with me. He didn't try to reassure me that she would make it. He just looked right in my eyes. Then I knew he had sent her there to die._

The crackling flames spread quickly, making the smoke denser and blacker by the second. Even through it, Kara could hear the thud of Titan metal boots against the floor. THUMP. A hand reached down and grabbed Kara by the scalp, pulling her up slightly off the floor. Kara could see Nivana's glowing purple eyes through the smoke.

Kara remembered the plan. Her family would come to get her, they would make it look like a kidnapping, they would make it look real, like Kara didn't want to go with them. Kara was supposed to put up a fight, but finally allow them to take her. Back to Titan. Back to her home… Kara remembered the plan, but when this moment came, it suddenly didn't feel like a performance. It felt like she was really being taken away, against her will. It felt like she was going to be torn from everything she held dear. And suddenly—without thinking it through—what was supposed to be a quick and easy retrieval became a fight for her life.

Kara's leg swept out knocking Nivana off her feet and to the floor with a thud. Another soldier from Titan shot a rocket at Kara's chest, knocking her back, but otherwise unharmed. She sat back up and the soldier was loaded and ready to fire again, when Mjölnir hit his chest and sent him back through the crumbling wall and crashing into the next building. As Mjölnir flew back into Thor's fist, Nivana stood, realizing she would have to take out another obstacle before she could retrieve Kara. Flashing her arms to her side shot out her hidden blades; she charged at Thor.

Hearing sirens in the distance, screams from the apartments beside her's, flames engulfing the hallway, Kara knew she had to take this fight away from the city. She knew Nivana cared not for human life and would do nothing to minimize the damage during the fight. Trying to stop Nivana would cause more harm to those around her, she had to run.

As Nivana charged at him, Thor swung his hammer. He didn't know how quick she was, because as he swung at her she dodged him, dove for the floor and let her blades slice his ankles as she slid past him. Surprising was the pain this alien metal caused him. Thor fell to his knees. Nivana, turning her attention back to Kara, realized she was gone. Leaping over Thor and jumping through the hole in the building, Nivana followed Kara on foot. Three more alien soldiers followed close behind on flying hover boards. Kara had always been fast, but Nivana was lighter and faster. However, just a few second head start had given Kara the advantage. She dashed through empty streets, navigating her way through the city.

Nivana was gaining, Kara could sense it. She could feel the bullets hitting and bouncing off her back as she ran. _They brought the weak-ass weapons_ , Kara thought, _they weren't expecting a real fight_. She followed the highway away from the city, sirens fading into the distance as the police couldn't keep up. Instinctively, Kara headed upstate towards the avengers' compound. She didn't know how this fight was going to go, she just knew she wasn't ready to leave. She wasn't ready to give this up. She wasn't ready to see _him_ again.

Annoyed at how long the chase had gone on, Nivana quickened her pace and within minutes closed the gap between them. Leaping out, she wrapped her arms around Kara's neck and tried to throw her body into the ground. While her light weight body did little to move Kara, she stopped in order to throw her off. Thudding to the ground, Nivana huffed, "You can stop running now! There is literally no one around!" She rose to her feet, dusting herself off, "Enough with the act."

Kara stood towards her sister, her guard up. Nivana was right, they were in the middle of a field, no one around for miles. They could speak plainly.

"Your mission's over, Sister. You don't have to spend another moment on this god-awful planet."

"My mission's not done, there is more I can do. Go tell Father I need more time."

"HA!" Nivana let out a scoff, "This desire to stay wouldn't have anything to do with the Asgardian we found in your bed, would it?"

"He is part of the mission." Kara responded through a clenched jaw.

"I know Father told you to get close to the enemy, but you are taking it to a whole new level." Nivana's eyes held a hateful smirk. "Your heart was always too soft, Kara. That's why Father got rid of you. You stopped being useful to him when you started caring more about people than the mission. He hoped this time away would change you, toughen you up. But I see the opposite is true."

"You've always seen love as a weakness, you get that from him. But what you don't realize is that the anger and hate you hold makes you just as weak!"

"Your love makes you soft, while I use my anger against our enemies." Nivana scoffed

"Except when you take your anger out on me." Kara retorted.

Nivana's face changed. Anger took over expression. "You let him die!" She exploded across the field and charged at Kara. Her fist swung at Kara's face, but the impact only hurt Nivana, making her stumble back and hold her arm in pain. Kara crouched down to meet her sister's eyes, "It wasn't my fault our brother died. He died in battle." Kara could feel Nivana's hardness soften as anger was replaced with sadness. "He was my brother, too." Kara said as she laid a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Nivana looked up to meet Kara's eyes, her glowing purple now a soft lilac, "He was more than that to me."

The soldiers came flying into the field, finally catching up to the women. Their conversation halted as they both remembered why they were here. It was time to go. Kara couldn't find excuses to stay, and she knew she couldn't tell Nivana the truth- the truth that she loved it here, that she dreaded going home, that she found it harder and harder to fight for Thanos' cause… that she wanted to be on the right team. She needed more time to figure out which team that was. If she left now, she might never get to come back to earth. If she stayed, would her father ever welcome her back?

This wasn't the moment where Kara had to decide, for out of the sky, in a trail of thunder, the Avengers descended.

 **Action scenes always intimidated me… but I actually find them easier to write than emotional/romantic scenes. Romantic ones always go so well in my head, but when I go to write they come out like a big ball of cheese. Anyone have the same issue? I am trying to force myself to write more, so hopeful more chapters will come soon :)**


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